


Survival is Just the Beginning

by Juli



Category: Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 04:34:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11268054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juli/pseuds/Juli
Summary: They’d all struggled so hard to survive that no one, not even Conrad, had thought much about what would happen after they were rescued.





	Survival is Just the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a birthday gift for my friend, nancy.

James Conrad trudged slowly to the quarters he’d been assigned aboard the US Navy vessel that was carrying them away from hell. He was exhausted and from more than the fight to escape Skull Island alive. They’d all struggled so hard to survive that no one, not even Conrad, had thought much about what would happen after they were rescued.

It wasn’t pretty.

The survivors were allowed to clean up and eat, but had been denied rest until they’d been through a debriefing. The civilians were separated from the Sky Devils, but Conrad could only assume that the military personnel had been similarly interrogated. The questions came fast and furious and it was soon obvious that the military officers were full of suspicion. Did they really expect anyone to believe that they’d been attacked by a giant ape? That monsters were real? That some of their team members had been eaten? After the answers had all been ‘yes’ came the accusations of drug-induced hallucinations.

Fortunately about the time that the senior Navy officers began threatening to lock them all up, the lone roll of film that Weaver had managed to save was finished being developed. The images it contained stopped the Navy brass in their tracks. The others had been allowed to leave, but Conrad and Brooks stayed behind. The line of questioning had gotten friendlier, but that was almost worse than not being believed. Conrad had the growing feeling that instead of isolating the island and its horrors, that the Navy would be looking for a way to use what had been discovered.

Finally, even the incredulous senior staff had realized that Conrad and Brooks were too weary to continue and had stopped the session for the time being. Brooks had gone back to the galley for another meal, but Conrad had lost his appetite.

Conrad had been put up in officers’ quarters. As he went by the area that the Sky Devils had been bunked in, he noticed that the lights were out. No doubt the soldiers had also gone to get another meal once released by their own debrief; veteran fighters knew to eat often when the food was abundant.

Upon getting to his assigned quarters, Conrad flipped on the lights and turned to pull the door shut behind him. As he did, he heard a small noise and whirled around, reaching automatically to where he kept his knife at his hip. As he saw what – or, rather, who – had made the noise, however, he dropped his hand.

“Slivko?” Conrad called softly. The young man was sitting on the floor in the back corner of the small room, curled into as tight a ball as the gangly young man could manage. 

His visitor reacted to the light and Conrad’s voice, but not in the way Conrad thought. Instead of answering, Slivko curled into himself even tighter and tried to cover his head with his arms. Conrad swallowed heavily and walked carefully into the room. He sat on the bunk and considered his options. Finally, he reached out and put a hand on Slivko’s thin shoulder in a way he hoped was comforting.

“Slivko?” Conrad repeated, then when it didn’t get a reaction, tried gently shaking the other man.

Slowly, Slivko raised his head. Conrad winced; he could see the tracks of tears on the other man’s face, some of them still glistening.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Conrad kept his voice soft, and he hoped, encouraging.

“Okay?” Slivko’s voice cracked. “It’s never going to be okay again.”

Conrad’s heart broke a little; the soldier seemed so young. “I know it feels that way right now. . . .” 

“Do you?” Slivko interrupted him. “You know what I feel?”

There was only one way to answer that. “No, I suppose not, not really.”

They’d been through similar terrors on the island, but at least the Americans were relative strangers to Conrad. Witnessing their deaths had been hard, but nothing like it must have been for someone that had fought alongside them for months, if not years. Someone like Slivko.

“I’m gonna be court-martialed,” Slivko wiped at his eyes. “For disobeying Packard.”

“And if you hadn’t, we’d all be dead,” Conrad answered without hesitation. There were many types of bravery, but Slivko turning his gun on the Sky Devil’s leader had been one of the greatest acts of courage that Conrad had ever seen.

“Tell that to the brass,” Slivko wiped at his eyes. “Tell that to the other Sky Devils.”

Anger quickly welled up. “The Sky Devils are letting you take all of the blame?”

Slivko shook his head. “No, the other guys told the brass that we pointed our guns at Packard at the same time, but I can’t let them do that. No sense in all of us getting messed up.”

Conrad squeezed Slivko’s shoulder. “It won’t come to a court martial; I won’t let it.”

He expected Slivko to protest. After all, Conrad was not only not a member of the American military, he wasn’t even American. As such, he should have little influence over any disciplinary action against a US solder, especially something as important as a court martial. Conrad had gotten the impression, however, that the Navy had a use for him where Skull Island was concerned. Conrad had planned on washing his hands of the whole matter, but if he could use his future participation as leverage to get Slivko and the rest of the Sky Devils cleared, he’d do it.

“Thanks,” Slivko looked at Conrad with such obvious hero worship that it made Conrad uncomfortable. Hero worship wasn’t exactly a reaction that he coveted, not from this particular man. “I knew you could help.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Conrad asked. He offered a hand to Slivko, who took it and was soon sitting on the bunk next to him. “I would have thought you’d be with the rest of the Sky Devils. I’m assuming they’re availing themselves of the galley again.”

“Not hungry,” Slivko responded and then ducked his head in the most charming way. “Besides, I wanted to be with you. Feels safer with you.”

Safe, along with hero worship, wasn’t exactly the reaction that Conrad would have hoped for from the other man, but given Slivko’s youth, perhaps it was for the best.

“That’s not exactly true,” Slivko corrected himself before Conrad could respond. “I mean, it’s true that I feel safer with you, but it’s not only that. I just like being with you. You take me seriously and don’t treat me like some kid in his dad’s uniform. Like I’m Reg Slivko and not some throwaway soldier.” He sighed explosively. “Ah, hell. I’m not so good with words.”

To Conrad’s utter surprise, Slivko grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close, barely giving Conrad time to breathe before kissing him with bruising force. It was an unexpected move and one that implied experience, but the way the younger man’s teeth collided with his own spoke of something else.

When they broke apart, Conrad definitely felt his lips tingle and it wasn’t due to the raw kiss. He brought a finger to his mouth, half expecting it to come away bloody, but it didn’t. His lips were pleasantly swollen, but no damage had been done.

“Please say you’re not gonna slug me.”

Belatedly, Conrad realized if the inexperience of his kiss was indication, that Slivko might need reassurance.

“No slugging, I promise,” Conrad smiled. “You just took me by surprise.”

“I did?” Slivko questioned. “According to Marlow, it was pretty obvious that I was mooning over you.”

Conrad hoped he didn’t look as dismayed as he felt. Hank Marlow was a smart man, despite first impressions. Intelligence would have been required to survive on the island as long as Marlow had. However, that intelligence posed a problem. Namely, if Marlow had kenned Slivko’s attraction towards Conrad, then what else had he figured out? Had he realized that Slivko wasn’t the only one nursing an attraction?

“Slivko, after what we were just through, it makes sense that the libido goes a little overboard,” Conrad attempted for a fatherly tone. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. . . .”  
“Don’t you do that,” Slivko interrupted. “Don’t start treating me like a stupid kid now. I just came out of a war and I know what soldiers do with each other to blow off steam. This isn’t like that.”

Conrad was going to question Slivko’s certainty, but then something the younger man said hit him like a ton of bricks. “What do you mean you know what soldiers do? Has have you done any of that others?”

If one of the surviving Sky Devils had taken advantage of the young man, then they were soon going to wish themselves back on the island and at the mercy of the skull crawlers.

Slivko blushed and looked away. “No. They each had somebody already and they said I was too young.” He snorted. “I’m old enough to kill, but not old enough to screw. Or old enough to know what I want.”

The combination of words and tone got to Conrad. He reached towards Slivko and wrapped a hand around the back of the younger man’s neck. He pulled Slivko close and they kissed again. This time, Conrad controlled the kiss. It was deeper, longer and even more satisfying than the first.

When their lips parted, Slivko had a dazed look on his face and his pupils were blown. Conrad all but purred at the reaction. Now that his mind was made up, he felt very decisive.

“I’m going to lock the door now,” Conrad told Slivko with calm authority. “When I come back, I want to see you in a lot less clothes. Anything still on your body gets cut off and you can explain it to the other Sky Devils in the morning.

Conrad got off the bunk and headed to the door, smirking as he heard the sounds of frantic movement and clothes rustling behind him. He decisively engaged the lock before turning back to his bunk. The quarters were small and it hadn’t taken long at all to reach the door. In those few seconds, however, Slivko had managed to get himself completely nude and was perched on the edge of the bunk. His cock jutted out proudly, showing that at least one part of the young man was thoroughly certain.

“Good,” Conrad’s trip back to the bunk was much slower. With the first step he took off his shirt and with his second he toed off his shoes and with his third he undid his belt. “You may know what you want, but I’m going to show you how to get there."

He reached the bunk and kept going, nudging Slivko until the young man was prone on the thin mattress and Conrad was kneeling above him. Slivko reached up for a kiss and Conrad gladly gave it to him. As their tongues danced, Conrad used one hand to unzip his pants and pull himself out. Only then, with his pants still mostly on, did he lower himself on top of his young lover.

“Oh,” Slivko gasped as he felt Conrad’s erection brush against his own. “Wow. Wh-what are we gonna do?”

“We are going to kiss,” Conrad nipped at Slivko’s chin. “And we are going to explore some lovely friction and you are going to be very, very quiet.” He didn’t want to inhibit the young man, but they were on a Navy ship full of military personnel. “Does that sound acceptable?”

“Oh, god, yes/” Slivko’s voice was a little breathless when he answered, but from obvious desire and not fear.

Conrad was as good as his word, he shifted his hips so that their cocks slid together, all while burying one hand into Slivko’s hair and holding the younger man’s head still for one sloppy kiss after another.

Slivko moaned softly through their kisses, enough that Conrad broke off kissing him. “Shhh, we don’t need everyone to know what we’re doing.”

“Y-yeah, they’d be jealous,” Slivko managed to gasp out. “Conrad, what do I do?”

“Open your legs sweetheart, it’s going to get better.”

His lover responded and Conrad slid deeper between Slivko’s legs. He gave up his grip on Slivko’s neck so that he could use his hand to wrap around both of their cocks. The new sensation had Slivko arch his hips up and Conrad grinned in triumph. He too Slivko’s eyes starting to roll back as a sign that the young man was about to climax and locked his lips to Slivko’s. His timing was perfect, he swallowed Slivko’s cry of completion. Feeling the younger man’s spray in release across their legs, Conrad groaned softly and let his own release come. 

For a few minutes, all Conrad could do was let his breathing slow down as he studied his lover’s face. Slivko had blacked out and it was fun to watch him slowly wake up. Fun and a little nerve wracking. Conrad wasn’t entirely sure that Slivko would be happy at the situation he woke to.

He needn’t have bothered. As Slivko’s eyes blinked open, the young man grinned as soon as he saw Conrad’s face.

“That was great, can we do it again?"

Conrad chuckled, again reminded how young Slivko was. “Yes, but not tonight.” When Slivko’s face fell, he kissed him gently. “The war’s over; we have time. I have a lot of things I want to teach you.”

“All right, but I want to learn it all,” Slivko yawned and then smiled shyly. “But maybe you’re right that we don’t need to do all of it tonight.”

“Hold that thought,” Conrad kissed Slivko quickly, resisting the young man’s attempt to draw him back to the bed. “Don’t fall asleep yet.” 

There was a sink in the quarters, although not a full shower. Not even officers got that kind of privacy. Conrad quickly wet down a washcloth and cleaned himself off. He rinsed it thorough before returning to the bed. Slivko had been watching him with half-lidded eyes.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” Conrad enjoyed wiping his lover down, smirking as Slivko’s cock started filling again. When he saw it happening, however, he shortened the bed bath. His own recovery time was a bit longer.

“Here, but your skivvies back on,” Conrad retrieved Slivko’s underpants from the floor and tossed them at him.

“You’re kidding, right?” Slivko protested. “I want to feel you while we sleep.”

“Need I remind you that we’re on a Navy ship?” Conrad scolded. “We have to be careful.” Seeing the other man start to pout, he made a hasty promise. “After you get your discharge – your honorable discharge – we’ll go somewhere where we can afford to be more open. It’ll be worth waiting for, Slivko, I promise.”

While he’d been talking, Conrad had removed his pants until he was down to his underwear too. He joined Slivko on the narrow bed. The door was still locked, so they could risk that much.

“After where your hands just were, I think you should call me Reg,” the younger man curled closer and put his head on Conrad’s chest.

“I suppose you’re right,” Conrad chuckled. “I’m James.”

“James,” Slivko lifted his head to look at Conrad’s face. “That suits you.” He laid his head back down. “G’night, Jimmy.”

Conrad slapped Slivko’s ass lightly. “James.”

Slivko smiled again, but was already half asleep and didn’t say anything. Conrad shifted so his arms were around the younger man and his hands were resting on Slivko’s ass. He was exhausted, but knew sleep would be a long time coming. Despite having survived Viet Nam, Slivko would likely be plagued with nightmares. Conrad was determined to wake him before they got too bad. Slivko – no, Reg – was right, if he was old enough to fight a war, he was old enough to take a lover. And if that lover was a little older, so much the better. An older lover could teach about sex and also help Reg get through the aftermath of Kong.

And Conrad was just the man to do both.

The End


End file.
